The present disclosure relates to oil pan structures for storing oil circulated in power units in, for example, automobiles, and also relates to separators for partitioning oil pans.
Conventional power units include oil pans for storing oil in order to lubricate or cool parts of the power units. Oil stored in the oil pan is sucked by an oil pump through a strainer, circulates in parts of the power unit, and then returns to the oil pan.
Immediately after a cold start of a power unit, oil stored in an oil pan is cold, and therefore, has high viscosity, thereby reducing fuel efficiency. To prevent this, an oil pan described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 2008-297972 (hereinafter referred to as Patent Document 1) includes: an oil pan body having a reservoir for storing oil; and a separator disposed in the oil pan body. The separator partitions the reservoir into a first reservoir located inside the separator and a second reservoir located outside the separator. Immediately after a cold start, oil in the first reservoir is supplied to parts of a power unit through a strainer disposed in a lower portion of the first reservoir, circulates in the parts of the power unit, and then returns to the first reservoir. In this manner, oil in the first reservoir is continuously supplied to the parts of the power unit, thereby quickly increasing the temperature of oil circulating in the parts of the power unit.